The Birzman Hydraulic Hose Cutter cuts hoses and has an integrated barb press for press-in type compression inserts. It will work with hydraulic hoses up to 5.5mm in diameter, but not with steel braided hoses. It is an excellent tool to use and well made. The use of an easily available 9mm snap-off blade will also keep it working optimally for years to come. But it is the barb press that impressed me the most. It worked very well and inserted a barb smoothly and accurately. Factor in a decent price and you can’t really go wrong.
In a world where hydraulic brakes are increasingly found on even lower end models of bikes, the ability to shorten a hose, or replace one, is becoming more necessary for home mechanics. Accurate cutting of the hose and correct insertion of the barb are really important in keeping a hydraulic brake system safe and functioning at its best.
Previously I had been using a cutter like this:
This was about £6-7 to buy. It does a good job in cutting the hose, but the blade is not (to my knowledge) replaceable, so when the blade is blunt you have to throw the whole tool away.
The Birzman uses a Stanley 9mm Snap-Off knife blade which is easily found and costs around £4 for 10 blades. The blade is held in place by three grub screws which are tightened and untightened with a 2mm hex key tool. When the blade becomes blunt, the blade can be removed and that section snapped off for reinsertion. A whole new blade can also be fitted when necessary.
The hose is held in a ‘C’ shaped section and the blade guillotines down to cut it with a clean 90-degree cut. It uses a smoother action than my old red cutter, and is nicer to use.
The next function is the barb insertion. In the past I’ve used a Lebycle HBT-02 axle tool in my vice, which can safely clamp a 5mm hose without damage. I’ve then used a small pin hammer to tap the barb home. This has worked well for mountain bike brakes where the whole system can be removed/partly-removed from a bike to allow the brake hose to be fitted into the vice. With modern integrated brake systems this technique is impossible, and this is where the Birzman tool comes into its own.
Being able to insert a barb with a minimum of 25-30mm of hose available is great. Birzman recommends that 5mm of hose is protruding into the tool. Handily the cutting saddle sits next to the hose hole and is 5mm high. You just line them up. Brilliant design. Then the hose is clamped by the side lever, and finally a 3mm hex key tightens the lever into place. The barb is then fitted into the hose and it is pressed home using the ‘cutting’ lever which usefully has a ball shaped section to centralise the barb and stop it moving off centre. The process is super easy and reliable.
The only other comment I’d add about this method is that I found I needed to add an extra turn of the Allen key to the hose clamp lever beyond what felt tight, as otherwise the hose can slip inside the tool.
Whilst I primarily tested using Shimano BH59 and BH90 hoses and barbs, many other systems use press fit barbs too. However, it is worth noting that certain SRAM hydraulic systems use a screw-in barb that uses a Torx key. In that case, you would only use the cutter part of this tool. Before starting a job on a system that is new to you, check which sort you have. The road.cc guide on how to trim hydraulic hoses is worth a read if you’re unsure about this job.
Value
Looking around at the alternatives, you can buy cutters from £6-7, and barb insert tools from around £10-30, but most are single function tools. There are a lot of generic copies out there too.
The Jagwire hose cutter is £15, but does have replaceable blades. The Jagwire Sport Needle Driver is £24 and should be good quality, but it is fairly expensive compared to the Birzman tool.
The Clarks Hose Cutter is £28, and is possibly more cumbersome to use than the Birzman tool, but it does work for both functions and is made from aluminium.
Normally, I like separate tools for different functions, but having used this one I don’t find a compromise in function between the two tasks that it can perform. In fact, I liked that it was able to cut and fit an insert, and kept the functions together. There is a Tektro tool that looks identical to this Birzman tool for a similar price too. I’ve only used the Birzman version however so this is the tool that I’d recommend.
Conclusion
The Birzman Hydraulic Hose Cutter is a really excellent tool that works well, and in tight spaces if needed. It accurately cuts hydraulic hose and press fits barbs. It can be kept sharp with easily and cheaply available blades and it costs £16.
Verdict
Super little tool works well and is priced very competitively against the alternatives
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road.cc test report
Make and model: Birzman Hydraulic hose cutter
Size tested: 103.5 x 34 x 16.6 mm
Tell us what the product is for and who it’s aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it?
The Birzman hydraulic hose cutter with integrated barb press is aimed at home mechanics who wish to trim or adjust hydraulic hose length on their disc brakes. The tool is compatible with hydraulic brake hoses under 5.5mm diameter. It is not able to deal with steel braided hydraulic hoses however.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product
Birzman says the hose cutter is made from a ‘high polymer’ material, with steel parts where needed. It measures 103.5 x 34 x 16.6 mm and weighs 61g.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
It performed really well in testing. The cutter was nicer to use than my generic hose cutter and I liked that the blade is replaceable with an easy to source part. The barb insertion part of the tool was also excellent. It did require more tightening than you might think, but that’s because of the pressure needed to fit a barb, rather than a failing of the tool. As I used it more, I became used to the tightness required. I liked that it didn’t damage the hose in the process.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
It felt well made and robust. It was compact enough to use in tighter spaces, and both functions were straightforward. I particularly liked the replaceable blade element.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Nothing
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
A generic hose cutter with a ‘V’ shaped blade typically costs around £6-7 and once the blade has become blunt you’ll need to throw it away and buy a new tool. The Jagwire hose cutter is £15, but does have replaceable blades.
Barb insertion tools are typically in the £10-30 range. A generic type like this starts at £10.
The Jagwire Sport Needle Driver is £24 and should be good quality, but it is fairly expensive.
The tools that combine both functions look like they might be more cumbersome to use than the Birzman tool. The Clarks branded version is £28, but there are generic copies for a little less money.
So I find that, costing £16, being compact and well made, and combining the two functions needed in hose trimming, the Birzman is an excellent tool to use at a great price.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
This is an excellent tool. It worked well, felt good to use in the hand, and you can replace the blade when it blunts.
About the tester
Age: 56 Height: 180cm Weight: 66kg
I usually ride: Condor Fratello 55cm My best bike is: Gios Evolution 55cm
I’ve been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Every week I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, General road riding is most common
3 thoughts on “Birzman Hydraulic Hose Cutter”
I think the Clarks one might
I think the Clarks one might do braided hose.
Cutting hoses is easy but
Cutting hoses is easy but pressing in barbs is not a task to be under-estimated. You do need a proper tool to do it accurately.
Miller wrote:
I’ve previously held the hose with some pliers (using the curved ridged bit to avoid crushing the hose) and used a small hammer to tap in the barb. Not sure how accurate it was, but it seems to have worked fine.
I’d be more concerned over the accuracy of the hose cutting – that definitely needs to be straight.